


The Doppelgängers

by Alannada



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crimes & Criminals, F/M, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:34:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26986798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alannada/pseuds/Alannada
Summary: The universe tried to warn her, but Kagome was a bit too focused to notice. ]Modern AU\
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha, Miroku/Sango (InuYasha)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 27





	The Doppelgängers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [C_Storm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/C_Storm/gifts).



> The rule is I suck at Modern AU. But I hope this story sucks less than usual.  
> A gift fic for Cstorm86. You are amazing, sweet friend. I hope it will make you smile.  
> A huge THANK YOU to NeutronStarChild, Ruddcatha and Fawn_Eyed_Girl for all your support. You're awesome guys!  
> Cover art by: NeutronStarChild   
> Beta: Fawn_Eyed_Girl

There were signs that this day wouldn't go according to her plans. The broken cup in The dishwasher was a clear sign she should stay home instead of going out on a small adventure. The universe was trying to keep her indoors, since it took her a ridiculous amount of time to find her favorite shoes. There was no rain, but the fog that filled the streets of Tokyo tasted like gravel, and even had a similar transparency. It clung to her, wet and cold like a fish, as she walked down the stairs from her home to the train station, hauling her big yellow backpack. A whole family of black cats paraded across the sidewalk she was walking on.

And yet, Higurashi Kagome, a daughter of a shrine keeping family, didn't notice or recognize the signs, the warnings of some benevolent kami that wanted to keep her from walking down a path that was going to change her life.

She was too excited and too focused on her adventure to realize that.

Her smile didn't waver as she meandered among the crowds that walked down the streets of Tokyo. There was a small bounce in her step as she walked, long black hair swaying behind her back, lithe body moving with easy, unrealized grace. Brown eyes looked at the grim weather and busy people with a certain spark of a woman who had a few free days of freedom she was going to enjoy.

She was going to visit Yuka in her new apartment. Yuka had recently moved to a different district, so she could waste less time and money on getting to her workplace. She had shared photos of her new little place with her friends, but also had invited them to visit. So, each one of them went to see her there the earliest they could. Due to her work schedule for the month, Kagome was the last one to make the visit, Eri and Ayumi had already been there, and Kagome was glad that she was going to have a chance to hang out with Yuka this weekend.

She boarded the right train, making sure that it went the right way. She was a bit of an airhead sometimes, so often that sometimes, when she got lost in her thoughts, she went and boarded a train that went the opposite direction. Kagome found a spot to sit and quietly zoned out for a few minutes before she forced herself to focus and pay attention to the stops. It'd be just like she was in high school again, missing her stop and wasting time going back.

So, it was no wonder that she didn't notice the man who boarded the train a few stations after her. He was a flamboyant-looking individual, with a guitar slung over his back. The instrument stuck out from above his shoulder like a hilt of a sword. His black hair was tied in a high, long ponytail, and he wore stylish makeup on his face. His clothes were colorful and drew the attention of many in the car. But Kagome, the woman that he stared at for a good five minutes before pulling out a phone of his pocket and beginning to type something, didn't notice him.

Almost an hour later, Kagome finally left the train, arriving in a totally different part of the city. It was as far from the center of the city as Kagome's home, so there were mostly shorter buildings and less blinking neon signs on the streets. The crowds were also smaller, so it was easier to move. Kagome looked around and started to leave the train station, when a man approached her.

He was rather tall and had his black curly hair in a low ponytail. He was around her age, but had small wrinkles around his eyes and lines on his face that showed that he lived in some serious stress (or was just exhausted). He wore a casual outfit and had a small bag hanging from his shoulder, the type people used to carry papers and essentials during the day.

He didn't look weird or dirty. He didn't have the look of an insane person or a con artist on his face. He looked more like a man who had to do work he didn't like that much, but had to in order to pay his bills. He had a paper pad in his hand.

"Hello, miss?" he asked, his voice raspy from smoking. "May I trouble you for a few minutes of your time? I'm just making a questionnaire and would like you to answer it, if you don't mind. My name is Muso Onigumo."

Kagome paused. Sure, she had some free time before she had to get to Yuka's. She had left her home earlier than she should so she'd have some spare time in case she went the opposite way or zoned out through the right train stop.

The man looked at her pleadingly. He didn't look shady in any way, just an ordinary dude who was probably underpaid and just wanted to get the questionnaires for today done.

"Uh, sure, if it doesn't take too long," Kagome agreed, deciding to show mercy.

She shouldn't have.

.

Kagura Cafe was a nice place. It was not one of those fancy restaurants that made you worry about what you were wearing when you walked in. It was in a western style, with chairs and high tables, and a big menu hanging behind the counter manned by a short, albino girl in a cream-colored dress. Her name was apparently Kanna and she seemed to be nearing the end of a long shift, her eyes vacant as she looked at Kagome and Muso walking in.

Kagome cast a quick glance around. The place was basically next to the train station and had a bunch of people inside, enjoying their drinks and food. The cafe smelled of coffee and some pleasant incense that efficiently masked the various scents of various foods. Photos and posters of American and Japanese actors were scattered across the walls: among them, one stuck out to Kagome. It was a painting in a dark frame, not a photo. It depicted a woman that looked very similar to her. The woman in the picture had the same long hair, just straight while Kagome's tended to get wavy, especially in wet weather. The woman’s eyes were similar in shape and color to Kagome's. She looked melancholic and distant, holding a bunch of bell flowers. 

Kagome didn't have much time to ponder the strange similarity of the woman in the painting to herself, because a hand touched her shoulder. Muso, the questionnaire guy, gestured to a small table that had a 'reserved' sign on it. It seemed that the company that had delegated him to do the questionnaire at least made sure he had a warm, nice place to do so. Kagome welcomed this with a sigh of relief; a part of her had been worried that he was going to turn out to be a shady man wanting to pull her in a cult or drugs. But in this obviously public place she could put her worries to rest. All that separated their table from the rest of the big room was a few potted plants—hardly any covering, thus providing only a virtual privacy.

"Um, so, will you ask the questions, or is there a form I should fill?" she asked the man when they sat down. He glanced at the phone he held in his hand and smiled at her.

"There is a form, but if you don't mind, my boss would like to talk to you for a bit," he said. "As a gift for all your patience and compliance, I'd like to buy you a coffee."

"That's... not really necessary," Kagome muttered. She wasn't one to accept drinks from strangers, even if they were a gift coffee for sparing a few minutes to fill a stupid form.

"It's no big deal," he smiled. "The coffee is on my boss anyway."

Kagome giggled at that. It made sense; he probably wanted to make his boss 'pay' in some way for appointing him to the ungraceful work of dragging people in here to fill out forms for him. As a woman who worked as an underling for a demanding boss, Kagome could understand that.

"In this case I'd like the best coffee this place can offer," she said with a smirk. Muso chuckled and went to order the coffee for them. In the meantime, Kagome pulled out her phone and messaged Yuka, telling her that she was going to be at her place soon, so Yuka better hide all her porn. Her friend messaged almost immediately

'All my porn is already hidden, Miss Shrine Priestess. Just don't go doing something I wouldn't.”

Kagome and sent her friend a smiley face. She was startled when someone moved to sit in the chair opposite to her. She lifted her gaze from the phone, expecting Muso with his coffee, but the man sitting there was not him.

The man resembled Muso, like a distant cousin would; the shape of his face and his hair were the same, but this man didn't have any signs of exhaustion on his face. He was handsome and looked maybe ten years older than her. He wore a black suit with a purple button up shirt. His hair, that seemed to be longer than hers, fell over his shoulders in coiling waves—no doubt styled this way. He smiled at her, but the smile didn't reach his eyes, eyes that seemed to examine her.

Kagome swallowed, feeling as if she was back in school.

"I'm Muso's boss, Naraku," the man introduced himself. "I want to interview you while you're doing the questionnaire. This way we both save some time."

She nodded. "Sure." She guessed he was so direct because he was miffed by tre price he had to pay for her coffee. Or he just was an ass—which was supported by Muso's tired and a bit resigned expression from before.

Naraku pulled out of the bag left by Muso on the table a pile of papers and handed a few sheets to her, along with a pencil.

"Wow, that's a lot of questions," Kagome said, pulling the papers closer to herself. Naraku smirked.

"Well, we're trying to get a lot of data," he said. Kagome shrugged and started reading the form.

It started ordinary enough, with questions about her height, weight and age. Then, there were a bunch of questions about her education, her hobbies, and her favorite and least favorite activities. While filling out the questionnaire, Kagome was talking to Naraku, keeping an easy conversation about things like her vacation plans and stuff like that.

It kept her distracted enough that she realized that something was weird with the questionnaire only when her pencil hovered above a question asking what types of weapons she could handle. She blinked at it, stopping her story about the visit to the Cat Island she'd had with her family last Golden Week. She glanced at the question below this one. 'On scale from 1 to 10, how high is your resistance to pain?

"Uh... You never told me what this is for exactly." Kagome looked up to Naraku, her pencil poking the paper a couple of times to indicate what she was referring to. The man sat there with his coffee in his hand, his eyes focused on her. Her own coffee, forgotten since it had been brought by a waitress, stood to Kagome's right.

"We're trying to get to know you," he said with a small smile. It was an honest one, but for some reason, Kagome felt the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

"But... Why...?" she asked, laying the pencil on the table. She wasn't going to continue filling out the questionnaire until she got her answers. There was something weird about it and she didn't like that. The smile on his face widened, and suddenly the sounds of the other visitors of the cafe faded away. There was something... cold and malevolent in these eyes that looked at her from the other side of the table.

"You look just like her," he said quietly and leaned a bit forward. "You will be a nice addition to the collection of her lookalikes."

"Lookalikes? What are you...?" Kagome gasped, instinctively leaning back to keep the distance between them. Her heart beat sped up—what was he talking about?

"Boss!" a sudden cheerful voice cut into the silence. Naraku's intense gaze moved away from her and Kagome felt as if a pressure had been lifted from her person. A woman in a nice kimono —the waitress who had brought their coffee—walked to their table. She was an elegant woman with her hair pinned up in a bun adorned with feathers. But Kagome paid little attention to her looks—the woman held her purse. Kagome glanced to where she had left her back pack and the purse piled up in a chair next to hers. Only the backpack was there. "We're ready!"

"When...? How...?" Kagome gasped out. As soon as the woman put her purse on the table, she stood up and grabbed it.

"When I brought your coffee," she smiled at Kagome. The young woman wanted to lift her purse, take her back pack and leave, but at the same moment she made to lift the purse, Naraku's hand grabbed her wrist in an iron grip.

"Hey!" she yelled and tried to yank her hand free. The waitress did nothing to help her; she just stood there with a slight smile. "Let me go!"

"You have to know that we know where you live. We know where your family live. You try to contact the police, they will die." The man's voice froze her blood. Kagtome stared at the still-seated man, who gave her an almost patronizing smile. "I like to see her lookalikes run, so you will get a small head start. Then we will catch you and you will be mine, just like all her other lookalikes." There was a mirthful spark in his eye when he let go of her hand. Kagome took a step back, knocking out her chair as she tried to get more distance between herself and the pair.

"You're sick!" she exclaimed and grabbed her back pack.

"Remember," Naraku lifted a finger. "Be a good butterfly and your family will be safe when you fall into my web. And fall you will."

Kagome didn't listen anymore; she ran out of the cafe. None of the visitors paid her any mind when she went straight to the door and raced down the stairs, not deterred by the rain that was falling outside.

A man stood in the middle of a small pathway that led from the foot of the stairs to the sidewalk. He held an opened umbrella. Kagome paused for a second when he pushed the umbrella at her, obviously giving it to her.

"Th-thanks," she panted out and for a brief moment wondered if she could ask this man for help. He had a pleasant, open face with a big smile and honest-looking eyes.

"We can't let a butterfly wet her wings," he said with a polite nod. Kagome's heart stopped for a second when she was called that for the second time in the last five minutes. "Boss Naraku will have a lot of fun watching you try to get out of his webs."

Kagome stepped to the side like a wooden doll, then she started to run again.

"See you soon!" the man called after her when she was running down the sidewalk, not minding the puddles of water and dodging the startled people that were walking there.

.

It was a nightmare. Kagome walked briskly down the streets and alleys of the neighbourhood, trying to lose her tail. But whenever she went, whenever she looked...

Kagome looked to her right, to where a bunch of people stood next to a vending machine. There, among them, partially hidden behind an older, plump woman, stood the man.

The same man that had given her the umbrella that she had dumped in the first trash can she had run by. He was there, looking at her, a slight smile on his face. How was he doing this? She didn't look straight at him, but she knew that he wasn't winded from chasing her. He didn't seem to be moving fast enough to get ahead of her and observe her going down the sidewalk. He never tried to approach her, but the mere fact he was there, the knowledge his eyes followed her...

She knew she probably looked like an insane woman when she ran away from the cafe. She had hit a few people in her hurry and had apologized without slowing down. She had run like a scared animal: her heart in her throat and stomach tight with fear. Now she was walking fast, her body tense and her head turning from side to side, wide eyes looking around.

This area was new to her: foreign, and somehow she felt so alone despite people walking around and cars moving down the streets. The rain was gone for now, but the clouds hung low, making the day look gloomy and dark. The buildings seemed to loom overhead, brick walls fencing off the houses in the residential areas.

Kagome felt like a trapped animal, pushing forward, her legs growing tired, her stress making heer stomach squeeze painfully. She wanted to call or go back home, but she was too afraid to do that.

She just wanted to wake up and be back in her bed or find out she slept through her stop.

It took her a while to realize that she hadn’t seen the man since the vending machine a few streets back. Tentative hope sparked in her heart—maybe this sick game was over? Or maybe she managed to confuse the man and make him lose her in the crowd? She walked down a half of an hour longer before she decided it was time to make the beeline towards Yuka's house. It was way past midday and she wanted nothing more than to relax in Yuka's comfy place and forget about all this weirdness. They had to lose their interest in her. She was still casting wary glances around as she walked towards the right neighbourhood, but she never spotted the man again.

Yuka lived in a nice place: a fairly new building, painted light orange to stand out among the trees that grew around it. Kagome smiled when she saw it, relieved that her walk was over and that she wasn't followed by the cult guy. Her mood was definitely better now, with her destination in sight. Even the sky cleared a big deal, the sun shining through the holes in the clouds that grew bigger and bigger.

"Finally!" Yuka exclaimed when a few minutes later she opened the door of the flat that was the one closest to the staircase on the second floor. "You took forever; did you get lost? Why didn't you call me for directions?"

"Yuka!" Kagome gasped when her friend grabbed her wrist and pulled her inside her home. "I... I had an adventure. Not a very fun one."

"Good thing I have chocolate ice cream and the whole season of Fruits Basket,” Yuka took Kagome's purse, so she could take off her shoes and backpack. The luggage was left behind when the women moved into the small, but efficiently furnished, apartament. There was a living room with a kitchen annex separated from it only by a counter. Yuka showed Kagome where the tiny bathroom and the guest room were before she sat Kagome down on the couch in the living room and went to make her some tea.

Kagome looked around the room. It had stuffed animals Yuka collected over the years piling up on almost all surfaces. The big panda she had won during the last festival at the Higurashi shrine sat partially obscured by the TV. A few cactai adorned the windowsills. The big bookshelf in the corner had more DVDs than actual books on its shelves, along with some framed photos of Yuka's family and their friend group together in a pub. A laptop was standing in the center of the table in front of Kagome, a cord connecting it to the TV, which had the screen thrice the size of the laptop.

Kagome inhaled deeply a few times, the air in the apartment filled with the delicate smell of jasmine Yuka loved. Her body felt so tired and now, as the tension was leaving it, she felt unwilling to move for the next month. The couch was comfy... And this weird shit was over... She deserved a whole carton of chocolate ice cream, that was for sure.

"So," Kagome gasped and almost leaped to her feet at Yuka's voice. The other woman put two cups of hot tea on the table in front of her. "Tell me what happened?"

At first Kagome didn't want to tell Yuka about her misadventure, not wanting to drag her into this, but Yuka was always able to somehow drag the confession out of Kagome.

So, holding her cup of tea, Kagome soon found herself telling Yuka about meeting Muso and going to the Kagura Cafe, then meeting Naraku and all that crazy crap that happened later. She described her run around the area and about the man who had been following her for a big part of it. Yuka was mostly quiet, but was listening intently to her story, humming and asking small questions here and there. A frown was on her face since Kagome had mentioned the cafe.

"A neighbour told me when I moved in that Kagura Cafe isn't a place for normal citizens. There's a rumor that yakuza does their business there," she said slowly, then shrugged. "I guess it's just a rumor, since the police never closed the place."

"It looked pretty nice and the people who were there looked normal. You know, not the delinquent type," Kagome remembered. "There was even a teenage boy with bleached hair."

"And there were these two weird dudes and the waitress," Yuka added sourly. "Totally a decent community. Bunny girl, you almost got kidnapped or whatever there," she pointed out, and Kagome just nodded her head, feeling a shadow of that fear she had been feeling not too long ago. "So, will you report them?"

"I should... probably... but what if they really will do something to my family?" Kagome bit her bottom lip. She balled her fists in her lap, closing her eyes and trying to figure out what to do. She should... She should... Her thoughts ran in tight loops and she started to breathe faster, feeling that whatever she'd do, it'd be a mistake.

The sound of furious typing brought her out of her mind. Her eyes snapped open to reveal Yuka hovering over her laptop and typing faster than Kagome could.

"Here," she murmured. "Nara Kagewaki, nicknamed Naraku, he's been a suspect..." Yuka moved to sit beside Kagome, turning the laptop so she could view the page with her. It showed an article from a local newspaper. "In murder of one Chiba Kikyou..."

Kagome stared at the laptop screen, but she wasn't reading the article with Yuka, she was looking at the images scattered across the page. There it was, the painting of the lady with bellflowers. Was this Kikyou?

"...Released due to no evidence..." Yuka murmured, reading out loud pieces of paragraphs. "...He and his associates were suspected to be behind a bunch of robberies and break-ins in the area, but no evidence... As far as police are concerned, all that the group called the Spiders had done were some cases of disturbing the peace in the middle of the night and minor acts of vandalism... Gods, our police force sucks ass... What the hell...?"

"Uh..." Kagome snapped out of her staring when suddenly a pop up window obscured the image of Kikyou.

"Fucking ads," Yuka grumbled, and fumbled to move the arrow towards the close button of the small window. Kagome's hand moved to grab her wrist and she blinked at the staring, still-speechless girl, then back at the ad.

'Call me, baby,' glowed on top, written in what looked like a handwritten kanji. One would have expected a busty girl or a dude with muscles like balloons under such a message, but the picture, that adorned the rest of the ad, was surprising.

No, there was a cute, chubby racoon dog holding a shield in front of itself and blinking. It was a simple animation, but looked really pretty. As the women stared, the racoon moved the shield a bit to the side to reveal what was behind. The animal was hiding—protecting—a small flower. The racoon winked as if at the audience, and moved the shield back in place.

"Eh?" Yuka blinked at the animation repeating again before the pop up window just went away as if it had never been there before. "What's going on, Kagome?"

"I saw this racoon before..." Kagome said, and frowned. She remembered the image from somewhere. She turned away from the laptop, not wanting to see the picture of Kikyou anymore. She glanced at Yuka, who was utterly puzzled, then at her shirt, with Luna and the phrase 'Rabbit on the Moon makes rice cakes."

That hit her.

"On the shirt!" she gasped.

"What? What's on the shirt?" Instinctively, Yuka glanced down at her bosom.

"I saw that racoon on the shirt of a man I almost ran over when I ran out of Kagura Cafe," Kagome said. "And it had the same text, too. He was giving out some flyers and I kinda..."

Kagome jumped for her purse and dug around in it. She could remember that man; he didn't look much older than her and was probably miserable, handing out flyers in the rain, fumbling with his papers and an umbrella. He had pushed a bunch of these in her hand when she had briefly stopped to keep him from falling into a puddle. She remembered his dark blue eyes looking at her with little shock and with a lot of compassion. He had told her that it was going to be fine, but back then she'd thought he'd meant that he was okay. But now, now she had this feeling that he'd known. He'd known and that ad wasn't a coincidence. Nor was the crumpled up flyer she was now straightening out.

"Bunny girl, have you lost the last two same brain cells?" Yuka asked from the couch. "It's no time to dig around it flyers for some stupid restaurant or language school, we should figure out what to do!"

Kagome turned around and smiled, not her usual beaming grin, but a smile anyway. She showed the flyer to Yuka.

"This one is with a racoon," she said, pointing to the same cute animal on the paper. "But on the rest he'd given me, there are other animals. There's a fox one, a dog one, a cat one..."

All the flyers were similar in design, only chubby animals putting them apart. All had the same text printed on thm.

'Call this number, if you were called a butterfly by someone who isn't your significant other.  
Call if you were compared to a Chinese bellflower.  
Call if you are afraid of spiders.  
Shush, it will be fine.'

And under that was the number she was going to call.

"Okay, that's a new level of weird shit, Higurashi," Yuka said while Kagome reached for her phone and started to tap in the number. "Wait! You aren't going to call that, ain't you? It might be these gangsters after you or some other creep!..."

A rational part of Kagome would have been skeptical too, or at least a bit weary. But her gut told her to trust the chubby animals with shields.

"Be quiet," she said to Yuka softly as she pressed the call key and put the phone on speaker. Someone picked up after one ring.

"Yes." It wasn't really a question. It was spoken by a smooth, male voice, the kind that would make any girl's knees go wobbly.

"I was called a butterfly and compared to a bellflower and spiders are the worst and..." Kagome said it all on one inhale, too afraid to stop for breath, so her brain couldn't catch up with her and remind her she was rambling in some stranger's ear.

"Yellow back pack girl, right?" the voice on the other side somehow managed to put in.

"...Yes." Kagome smiled sheepishly and scratched her cheek; Yuka was just staring at her.

"If you give me your address, we can be there in no time," the man said. He was to the point, but his voice carried a tone of urgency and sympathy. "We can discuss details when we arrive at your location. Last time we tried to inform the girl over the phone, and we didn't make it in time."

Kagome swallowed and then gave Yuka's address.

"Are you crazy! They can be..." Yuka gasped.

"You're not alone. Good," said the man. They could hear a car engine in the background. "We are close by. Stay away from windows. I'm a human and my partner is a racoon youkai. Let no one else in."

"What makes you think I will let two strangers into my apartment?" Yuka huffed.

"With all due respect, your home is not fit to defend against a gang of youkai. Hence, your friend has to be relocated to a facility where she can be protected," informed the man politely.

"Um... Can we know who you are, actually?"

"Can I tell them?" asked a different voice, also male, but higher pitched and kinda goofy. The first man had to give a sign of approval, because he continued. "We're agents of SHUSH. When someone is in trouble, we're in a rush and we won't ask for any cash!"

"Hachi..." the tone of the first man's voice was like a verbal facepalm. The silence that fell afterwards was full of awkwardness, at least on Kagome's side. "Anyway, we're going to introduce ourselves shortly. Know this, as long as you follow our instructions, you are going to be fine."

"Oh, okay..." Kagome murmured and ended the call. It felt it was the right time to do that. Yuka was already typing the name in the Google search, but everything she got in her search results was related to Duck Tales and Darkwing Duck.

"Damn the American cartoons about ducks!" Yuka hit her knee with her fist as she glared at the search results. Kagome opened her mouth to say something, to suggest digging a bit more, but her phone rang. She almost dropped it at the sound of her ringtone and she had to swallow her heart before she glanced at the caller number.

It was the same number she'd called just a minute ago.

"H-hallo?" Kagome answered the call. She could hear panting, as if someone was running.

"What happened? Are you safe?" asked the man,

"Um... Yes,," Kagome uttered.

"Good," the man sighed between pants. "We're almost at your door, don't kill the call before we get to you, okay?"

"O-okay..." Kagome followed Yuka towards the door, her friend grabbing a baseball bat from an umbrella stand next to the door.

"Let me handle them," she said to Kagome, who bit the inside of her cheek and nodded. "You're far too trusting."

"I am not!" Kagome tried to argue, but Yuka only raised an eyebrow at her. Then she peered through the judas.

"We're at your door," said the man on the phone. "Can you open?"

"Not until you show us your badges," Yuka said, still peering at the outside of her door, frowning at whoever stood there. "We don't know you and you could be working with the insane dude."

"That's fair, but I don't think it will make you trust us more." The man didn't sound surprised, more like resigned. Yuka opened the door without removing the chain lock, so it only opened a few centimeters. Kagome saw a hand slide though the crack, holding two identifications. Before she could have a better look at them, Yuka snatched them from the hold of the unknown hand and slammed the door shut, almost too fast for the man to pull his hand back.

"You're vicious, lady." The man sounded annoyed.

"I'm sorry. My friend is... She's protective," Kagome apologized, watching Yuka lay out the badges on the shoe cabinet and snapping a photo of them before she let Kagome look at them.

"That's fine, but will we get these back?" asked the second voice, a bit muffled.

Kagome held her phone in one hand, while in the other she held an identificator of one of the men. It was a racoon dog youkai; she knew it because there was a photo of the man, along with the name Hachiemon, his youkai breed, and the shield design from before. There was also an id number and rank distinction (Tantō). Above all of it, there was a lengthy name of 'Private Agency. Special Hunting Unit Swords of Heaven' and some code she'd never seen before.

The other badge belonged to the human—a man with black hair and dark blue eyes that shone in an open, smiling face—the face of a man she'd almost trampled. His name was Kaze Miroku; his rank was Wakizashi, and where Hachiemon's badge had the youkai breed info, Miroku's held the information that he was a houshi.

"Can we let them in, Yuka?" she asked. She had a good vibe from them. "They want to help us and look, they're from an agency..."

"Who paid for your services?" Yuka asked the man on the other side of the phone.

"We're in the middle of an... emergency here," Miroku said politely, but firmly. "We can discuss the details that aren't classified once we ensure the safety of your friend. May we come in?"

Yuka glared at the door, then cast a glance back to Kagome, who smiled.

Kagome knew that after all that had happened today, she should be leery of strangers, but she had a good feeling about it and she usually trusted her instincts. Both the men's youki and reiki were easy to pick up, despite them politely keeping them bridled, as it was the standard in their society. Just like with speaking, no one liked loud declarations of power, so youkai and reiki users, who wanted to be seen as proper citizens, followed this rule. Kagome had a little of reiki herself, but she was never consistent with her training, and as her grandpa would usually describe it—anywhere near her full potential. Still, it was enough to allow her to sense the auras of the two men..

"Let them in," Kagome told her friend.

Five minutes later—and with a proper introduction on all sides—the four of them sat around the living room table. Miroku's partner, a humanoid tanuki wearing a pair of loose pants and even looser hoodie with the SHUSH shield held by a Hello Kitty, was handing Kagome and Yuka a few sheets of paper.

"Our agency information," Hach informed them as he did so. He sounded shy and anxious while his human friend was calm, but alert. Yuka snatched her copy of the papers and gave them both a stern look.

"Okay, so how is it that you guys showed up when Kagome has this problem?" she asked, suspiciously.

"I'm sorry for Yuka's straight-to-the-point attitude, but we're..." Kagome looked between herself and Yuka "...freaked out."

"We understand, Miss Higurashi," Miroku replied with a small bow of his head. "To put things simply, since we don't have much time. You aren't the first target of Naraku. In all accuracy, his first target was a sister of a member of SHUSH, Chiba Kikyou."

"We read on the internet he was cleared of the suspcions and that her death was dubbed suicide," Yuka said, but the tone of her voice indicated what she thought about this particular bit of information.

"That was what the police said when they closed the case," Miroku nodded with a sad sigh. "They had no clues to go with the investigation and from what we know, someone with money pushed to close the case. We, who knew her, we knew she'd never kill herself, so we did our best to keep an eye on him."

"Yeah, Naraku has powerful friends in the youkai underworld." Hachi shivered as he said that.

"During that time three girls went missing; the last one was able to contact an agent of ours, but they couldn’t get there in time to stop the Spiders from snatching her. There was no lead to follow and without the testimony from the girl... We had nothing on Naraku. But now we have you, Miss Higurashi. You can help us finally get the bastard in jail and avenge our friend's little sister." Miroku looked straight at Kagome and smiled, a bit wickedly. "Keeping you safe and transporting you to a SHUSH hideout is our biggest priority. We're only two right now, but the reinforcements are on their way."

"He said he would harm my family if I called the police," Kagome said softly. "Will he do that if he learns that I'm working with you?"

"He may try, but we can dispatch our agents to protect your relatives." Miroku put a finger to his chin. "Naraku himself will be joining the group hunting you, I'm sure of it, but he can send some underlings to do his work." He paused. “Where does your family live?"

"Higurashi Shrine," Kagome replied, balling her fists in anxiety. Miroku appeared so logical and collected, it was actually helping her fears at bay. She gave him the whole address and saw his smirk make a return. Hachi chuckled beside his partner.

"What's so funny?" Yuka asked, still wary of the two men sitting in her living room.

"We have a friend who owes us a debt," Miroku explained. "He isn't a member, but he often cooperates with us. Hachi, I know you want to do it. Send the big bad wolves to the shrine."

"Yes, sir!" Hachi jumped to his feet and went to the far corner of the room to make a phone call.

"Who is paying for this all?" Kagome asked, uncertainly. It was a private agency; she didn't mind help and protection for her family, but she hoped the bill wouldn't be too much for her to pay back.

"The wolves will work for free," Miroku said. "And the rest of the expenses will be covered by Chiba Kaede and Akita Inuyasha."

"Who are they?" Kagome blinked at the revelation that the bill wasn't going to push her into poverty.

"Lady Kaede is a retired member of SHUSH and the older sister to Kikyou," Miroku explained. "And Inuyasha is a Tachi, who didn't allow the Dai Tachi to close our investigation, so the Dai Tachi will be more than happy to take it off of his payment. He was Kikyou's teammate."

"Oh." Kagome and Yuka both looked at the smiling man in front of them.

"And I am glad they were so adamant about not letting it go," Miroku said. "Because this way we will be able to save you and avenge Kikyou. And, if we're lucky, free the other dopplegangers, too."

"But," Miroku's smile grew wider. "If you wish to pay us, you may consider a donation... or you can invite me for a coffee," he winked. "I wouldn't say no to a pretty girl."

"Uh..." Kagome blinked at the man, but was spared trying to come up with an answer. Yuka glared daggers at the still-smiling man.

"She says no," she informed him. "You aren't her type."

"Um..." Kagome gave up on trying to say anything and just nodded. Yuka was right; he was handsome, but not her type. And it was hardly the time to consider going out for a coffee.

"Miroku! Don't flirt with the witness!" Hachi shook his head as he sat down on his spot beside him. "Apologies for my friend. Anyway, the wolves will be at the shrine in five minutes."

"Thank you," Kagome beamed at the tanuki, who waved his hands in a shy manner.

"It was nothing, really!" he squeaked. "I just do my job!"

"Okay, so now we will have to relocate Miss Higurashi," Miroku glanced at his wrist watch. "The rest of the team will be here soon."

"Can't she stay here?" Yuka asked. Kagome swallowed at the thought of leaving the cozy apartment, but she knew that if it meant that Yuka would be safe, she'd go immediately. After all, it seemed that Naraku guy wanted her, and not her friend.

"Sadly, Miss Honda, this place is not fit to be a shelter from a youkai and human gang," said Miroku as he shook his head. "I will place a barrier around it to make sure no one attacks you once we're gone, but a full-out attack from the Spiders... It wouldn't hold for long. And the fighting that would ensue once the Spiders came... There would be a lot of casualties among the kind people of this neighbourhood."

That made sense. In the movies and in books, the youkai battles were always gruesome and stuff seemed to explode left and right. It was better to be away from residential areas if the whole gang was going to assault them.

The thought of kami knew how many bandits after her head made Kagome shiver and lower her head into her shoulders. Yuka patted her knee.

"Can I go with you?" she asked, brave as she was.

"It's an unnecessary risk." Miroku shook his head again. "But we promise you that we will ensure Miss Higurashi's safety and well-being. And, as soon as she is in the safehouse, she will be able to contact you."

These people were willing to risk their lives for her, Kagome thought as she looked at the strange pair. Miroku had this air of calm determination about him and, albeit lacking the calmness of his partner, Hachi looked at her with the same honest eyes. Kagome looked to Yuka, her brave, a bit brash, friend, who wasn't afraid to speak her mind or go through hell for her friends. Kagome couldn't ask her to do it, to risk her life like this. These two were professionals who were trained to fight, while Yuka knew battles only from Call of Duty and GTA. Kagome had made a terrible mistake today and she should do her best to make sure her friend, one of her best friends, was out of harm's way. She looked back to Miroku.

"Will she be safe here?"

"Yes," the man nodded. "From our intel, in Naraku's group, only two people have youki strong enough to destroy my barrier and I doubt he'd send them here after you left."

"Okay, Yuka." Kagome looked at her friend, who frowned at her. "I will go with them and see it through. I'll call you as soon as I can. Take care of my stuff?"

"Kagome..." Yuka started softly.

"I can't drag you into this," Kagome said, shaking her head, desperation and determination in her voice. "If anything happened to you, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself."

"Bunny girl.... You idiot..." Yuka sighed and shook her head, then glared at the two men. "Listen here, if she gets hurt, I will come for your ass."

"Believe us, Miss Honda, if we let her get hurt, our asses would be long sliced and diced by the time you came for them," Miroku said with a glint in his eye. "We will do whatever we can and then some more to assure Miss Higurashi's safety, you have my word."

It took a while to convince Yuka, but finally she relented, unhappy about it, but seeing logic in their words. Kagome squeezed her hand, at the same time relieved her friend would be safe once she was gone from her flat, but also afraid to go away from this haven of relative safety.

Miroku and Hachi suggested the best course of action—they wanted to wait for the rest of their team so they could escort her to a safe place. Her family would be moved to a safe house if the need arose. Kagome was going to give her testimony to the police and, Miroku hoped, then SHUSH could work with the police to get rid of the Spiders. Once the threat was nullified, Kagome was going to be brought back home.

Kagome sighed as she sat back on the couch, watching the two men who had just finished sharing their plan with them. Her body relaxed a bit; there was no arguing the fact that the agents of SHUSH had her well-being high on their priority list.

While Hachi talked to Yuka about what she was going to do after they were gone (apparently she was going to be hiding away from the windows and not leaving the barrier) Kagome observed Miroku as he walked around the living room. The monk placed sutras on walls and pieces of furniture, praying shortly after placing each piece of paper. She felt a gentle, soothing warmth wash over her when the last sutra was put in place and the last chant was spoken—the barrier rose around them and it made her relax in her seat.

"All is ready," Miroku said as he turned around and smiled at the trio sitting around the table. "Now we wait for my wife and the rest. They should be here any time now."

Kagome couldn't help but return his smile. She reached for her forgotten tea cup, but as her hand neared it, her phone laying beside it rang. Kagome felt a shiver run down her spine and she picked the phone instead. She gasped and felt her blood freeze when she saw who was calling.

The number was named 'Master'.

Kagome glanced up at Miroku, who stood behind Hachi now. Neither of them smiled as they looked at the still ringing phone in Kagome's hand. Miroku gave a small, stiff nod.

"Better answer it, Miss Higurashi," he said. "Don't let him know you've contacted us."

Kagome nodded and lifted the phone to her ear, squeezing it to hide how her fingers shook. She swallowed and felt Yuka's hand touch her shoulder in a reassuring way.

“What do you want?" she asked, trying to make her voice calm and confident, not wanting to show this man how scared she was, how fast her heart beat was.

A chuckle could be heard: a dark, deep sound that made her almost drop her phone.

"Did you enjoy your flight, little butterfly?" Naraku asked, his voice ringing with amusement. "I'm going to come and pick you up now, so be a good girl and pack your toys."

"What? You leave me alone, you insane asshole!" she almost yelled at him.

"You swear just like the doppelganger number two," he chuckled. "But unluckily for you, the real Kikyou never swore, so I will have to train it out of you, just like I did with that one."

"D-do you think you can scare me like this?" Kagome growled, but there was a hitch in her voice at the thought of what that training could be. She felt her heart squeeze when she thought of other girls that hadn't been so lucky to get help in time.

"Oh, but you are scared, little butterfly." Naraku sounded pleased with himself. "But you shouldn't be. Good doppelgangers don't get punished. So, be a good girl and play nice. I will let you enjoy some freedom before you join the rest.."

"You don't even know where I am! And you won't find me!"

"Oh, but I know. I told my men to let you see them only for the first part of your run. You didn't think I'd let you get away, do you?" The man laughed again. "My men are surrounding your hiding place as we speak, butterfly. See you soon."

Kagome's hand holding the phone fell limply to her lap when she heard the sound of the ended connection. She had been followed; she had led Naraku’s men all the way to Yuka's place. And they were readying to ambush them and kidnap her. She was doomed... Unless she and her new friends could come up with a new plan and it worked... She felt new tears fill her eyes at the thought of the fate that was approaching her, but with all her will she tried to not think about that. That couldn't happen. She had to do all she could to fight, not collapse in tears.

She stared at the two men, her lower lip trembling. Hachi looked almost as frightened as she was, and Yuka was staring at her with wide, fearful, and confused eyes. Only Miroku seemed somewhat calm, albeit there was grim determination in his eye when he moved carefully to the window that showed the view of the street. He peered carefully behind the curtains.

"Damn," he muttered and walked back. "The Hojo Five are on the street. Three are going in."

"The Hojo Five?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah. Quintuplets," Miroku grumbled. "They are humans that were following you. Good thing that barring the door will stop them from breaking in, bad thing that my reiki will not do shit against them. And Hachi isn't a fighter; he's a support guy. And where the Five are, the other members of the gang will soon come. They might know we're here, that's why their youkai members are waiting behind, so they can jump in when Hachi and I are busy with the Hojo Five."

"What will you do now?" Yuka asked. "You promised to keep Kagome safe!"

"And we will. We just have to remove her from here before they can barge in," Miroku shrugged. "is there another exit from the building, Miss Honda?"

"The emergency ladder," Yuka said, but Miroku immediately shook his head.

"Too obvious," he sighed. "They will secure it."

"Maybe we can climb down from the window in the guest room? It faces the other side of the building..." Kagome suggested, remembering the nice view from that window.It showed a small park that spread between Yuka's apartment building and the next one.

"That," the monk smiled brightly, "might work. Hachi, my dear friend, my most helpful..."

"Oh, shit." The tanuki stared at his partner with wide eyes full of sudden dreadful realization.

Not even five minutes later Kagome stepped over the windowsill of the guest room window, Miroku grabbing her hand and helping her onto the big floating shape Hachi had transformed into.

"Just keep her safe!" Yuka ordered from where she stood inside the room. Kagome smiled at her weakly, but Miroku grinned.

"We will. Hide for now, Miss Honda. We will be in touch."

"I'll call," Kagome promised, and sat down on the oddly comfortable yellow balloon that was Hachi now. He was warm to the touch and kinda reminded her of sitting on an inflatable mattress.

"Okay, Hachi, onward. We have to move as far away as we can before they spot us," Miroku ordered. The tanuki whined and obediently flew over the trees that grew in the park. Then he flew around the next building and over an empty alley. Well, almost empty. Kagome saw a woman—the waitress from the Kagura Cafe, still dressed in her uniform, walking from behind the corner of a closed grocery store. She waved a hand as if to say hello, then...

"Oh, goodness!" Kagome gasped when the woman casually, almost nonchalantly, lifted a pistol and shot Hachi. The tanuki whined in pain and Kagome gripped him when he shook.

"Hachi!" Miroku cried out as they started to lose altitude.

"She got me, Miroku!" Hachi wheezed. "I can't fly anymore! I'll try to land before I transform!"

"Hachi, will you be okay?" Kagome worried, feeling terrible. The poor good hearted youkai was hurt because of her.

"Don't worry, Miss Kagome, it's not fatal," the tanuki trembled as he went down to the street and landed on it with a loud ‘oof’. Before she or Miroku could climb off of him, the poor youkai transformed in a poof of smoke, revealing his usual form, with blood dripping from his right side. Miroku helped him to his feet while Kagome picked herself up. They could hear shouts from the direction they came from.

"That was pretty ballsy, if you ask me." Kagome gasped, and looked around to see the woman standing against the grocery shop wall. She had her arms crossed, her gun no longer pointing at them, but also not hidden.

"Kagura!" Miroku hissed through grit teeth as he supported his partner.

"You can dump him behind the grocery," she said. "We still have a minute before the Hojos and the boss show up."

"Wait what?" Kagome blinked at her. Wasn't she working for Naraku? Why wasn't she doing anything or calling her buddies? Why hadn't she killed Hachi when she'd had a chance? And now she was just standing there while Miroku helped Hachi to hide behind the grocery, obviously to hide until he healed up.

Kagura smirked at her puzzled expression and put the pistol across her lips.

"Shush, doppelganger," she said. "You shouldn't talk unless spoken to."

Miroku appeared beside her and slapped a sutra against her shoulder, causing the woman to hiss in pain and froze with her gun in a way that could indicate she'd been about to shoot someone when the sutra touched her.

"Apologies, Kagura," the monk said, but there was little guilt in his voice, then he walked to where Kagome stood, still unsure what was happening around her. He grabbed her hand. "Come, we must move."

"You can't run from him, butterfly!" Kagura yelled after them, but Kagome was already running and she didn't dare to look back. Miroku's hand was holding her firmly, pulling her behind him as he ran through the desolate area. Where was everyone? Kagome didn't have time to think about it; she had to focus on not stumbling. She heard her blood rushing in her ears as she ran, and she panted. She was no long distance runner and the fear didn't help her much; it choked her and made her breathe erratically.

Miroku led her down an alley, then around a fenced-off area where a new apartment building was halfway built. That was when someone stepped in front of them, emerging from the gate in the fence that surrounded the unfinished building, good twenty meters ahead of them.

"Fuck!" the monk gasped and stopped immediately. Kagome stumbled to a stop beside him and felt a heavy, cold weight fill her stomach.

Naraku smiled from where he stood between three women. Each one was tall, with long black hair pulled in a low ponytail. Each had high cheek bones and thin red lips. Each had big, brown eyes, devoid of any emotion as they looked at the pair. Each wore the same white blouse and rusty red pants. Naraku looked smugly at Kagome, then at Miroku.

"A friend of yours, butterfly?" he asked. "That's so cute."

"Go, Miss Higurashi," Miroku whispered. He let go of Kagome's hand and arranged his palms in a praying pose. "Move back and then go down the alley to the left."

"But..." Kagome gulped. Was he going to fight Naraku? Like how? She couldn't see any weapon on the four people in front of them, but she had an inkling that they weren't harmless. And there was no saying if there weren't any other Spiders around...

"Go, I'll buy you some time." Miroku glanced back at her and she took an unsteady step back. His dark blue eyes shone with determination, but there was no despair in them. He wasn't planning to sacrifice himself, he was going to fight.

"Touching, but the little butterfly has wasted enough time." Naraku lifted a hand, beckoning Kagome to come closer. "Come, let's start our training."

"No!" Kagome felt something in her snap as she saw the man smile widely, the three women around him mirroring his smile with their own. With a strangled cry Kagome turned on her heel and ran towards the alley to Miroku's left, where he'd told her to run. As she ran, she heard Naraku curse and she glanced back before she turned the corner. Miroku stood there, with his head bowed as he chanted, a glimmering barrier shining across the road and preventing the other man from pursuing her.

"You damn monk! Let me get my Kikyou!" Naraku's scream echoed between the metal fences and the concrete walls that surrounded the alley Kagome was running down now. The girl bit her bottom lip, not able to hear if Miroku replied. She could see the mouth of the alley illuminated by afternoon sun, the colorful cars zipping past the entrance to this shadowed area. She knew that she had to get there; she had to reach it. Somewhere deep inside she knew that getting to that light would save her, as if the gang couldn't pursue her. "Girls, catch her for your master!"

Kagome looked back when she heard the echo of multiple feet hitting the asphalt behind her. She saw the three women running after her, each with the impassive expression on their face; as if they weren't chasing her to drag her back to their twisted master. The thought of what they had suffered to have such empty faces, what she could suffer if she'd get caught...

She tripped on something and fell to her knees and hands, a startled cry of pain escaping her. Heart beating frantically, she picked herself up and glanced back again, just to see two men from the Hojo Five running after the women. At least on their faces she could see some emotions—anger and hate that made their pleasant faces look almost as scary as the empty masks of the women. They were too close to her. One of the men took out a gun and shot, but missed her. Kagome yelped when the bullet chipped away a bit of the wall to the side.

"Don't shoot our sister!" one of the women scolded the man. "Only our master can hurt us!”

Kagome rose to her feet and ran, panting and refusing to look back again, not wanting to see these hands reaching for her, these twisted grins and vacant eyes. She looked only at the mouth of the alley, refusing to stop. She couldn't give up, not after what Miroku and Hachi had done for her. She couldn't allow that wicked man to get his hands on her. She couldn't let her life end like this. She could hear screams behind her, but she didn't dare to look back again.

When a dark shadow covered part of the mouth of the alley. Kagome let out a sobbing cry. Was it the rest of the gang blocking her way? Was it all for nothing? She stumbled and blinked away her tears, but still ran. She realized that it was a car—a black van—that sped towards her.

Was it going to run her over? A part of her thought that being hit by a car could be a better fate than being kidnapped, tortured, and turned in a doll of a dead woman.

Then the sunroof of the car opened and a woman with her hair bound in a high ponytail emerged from the inside of the car. She held a big gun in her hands.

She didn't yell anything at Kagome or the group chasing her. She just started firing.

Kagome screamed and fell to the ground, covering her head with her hands. What was happening? What mad chaos was this? She looked up to see that the car was almost upon her. She could see the headlights and caught a glimpse of the woman, but then something new caught her attention.

Something red and white flashed from behind Kagome, and suddenly she was grabbed and lifted. She screamed and fought against her captor, but all she did was to slip from his grasp back on the ground, hitting the hard asphalt with her butt painfully. Then she heard shots from behind her and curled in a ball, expecting a bullet to hit her.

"Damn wench!" barked the voice above her and Kagome suddenly was pressed back against the cold, hard floor, with a warm, solid body over her. She opened her eyes, not even knowing when she'd closed them. What she saw was a red shirt with a sauce stain; running across the front was the same design that Hachi's shirt had. Tendrils of silver hair fell over her as the man kneeling above her, bowing his head. Golden eyes glared at her from under thick black brows.

"You..." she breathed out. For a second she didn't hear the shooting going on, or the horrible sound of tires screeching as the car made a half circle dangerously close to her. For a second, a brief moment, she forgot about Naraku, the doppelgangers, the world itself.

These eyes: they were full of determination so intense that it seemed to scorch her. They were so strange, and yet so familiar, at the same time. They were eyes of a predator, but for the first time today, Kagome felt perfectly safe.

"Trust me," he growled, his voice raspy. Kagome couldn't answer, so she just nodded and this time when his arms wrapped around her, she allowed this stranger to pick her up.

The next second she was thrown inside the car, across the back seat.

That, and the fact that those eyes no longer looked into hers, made her return to reality. She looked frantically around and saw an orange haired youth in the driver's seat. He was smirking mischievously as he put the car in the reverse and sped down the alley back from where he'd come. The woman—Kagome could only see her lower part—turned around and shot a few more times before she sank down to the interior of the car. She did it just as the vehicle left the alley and joined the traffic.

Kagome sat up so the woman could sit on the other side of the back seat. The woman smiled at the frightened girl and put her gun under the front passenger seat. Her shirt had no shield on it, but Kagome had this suspicion that made it irrelevant if there was a shield or not.. She was with the guys with the shields.

"Hello. My name is Sango and this fellow here is Shippou," she introduced herself and the van’s driver. "We're terribly glad that you're safe.”

"Hi!" Shippou grinned. "We're going straight to the HQ, so no worries."

"Oh, thank you... I'm Kagome," Kagome whispered, uncertain what she should do now. "Did... Did you kill these women?" she asked.

"I can't use sharp ammunition without the blessing. I used sleeping shots. I hope our team dog can fetch some ducks for us," Sango chuckled a bit darkly.

"We're not supposed to kill people, Kagome," Shippou said. "Even the very bad ones. I mean, if we do, we have to do lots of paperwork and Big Fluffy is grumpy with us for weeks."

"Big... Fluffy?" Kagome felt as if she was dreaming some weird dream. These two had auras much like Miroku and Hachi, soothing and relaxing warmth that radiated from deep within them. She barely paid any attention to the streets and buildings they were passing, too focused on the two.

"The Dai Tachi," Sango waved a hand. "It's not important. Now, try to relax a bit and rest. We'll be there soon and you will have to give your testimony."

Kagome smiled weakly at her and rested her head against the comfy seat.

.

Kagome woke slowly, floating from the deep slumber up to the lands of wakefulness. Her legs ached, her hands and knees were wrapped in bandages from where she'd scraped them. Her mind drowsily tried to figure out how exactly she got these injuries, but it took her memories a while to come to her.

And when they did—the memories of Naraku, the dopplegangers running after her, the flight on Hachi... Kagome gasped and sat up, her panicked gaze sweeping around as she tried to gather where she was and what was going on.

"Hey, hey, it's fine," said a familiar voice, and Kagome turned her head to see Miroku. He was reclined on a simple bed, just like the one she was laying on, a blanket covering him up to his chest. Judging by the cover of the manga he had in his hand, he'd been enjoying a hentai story.

The room they were in had plain white walls with some pictures of landscapes scattered across the walls. A white curtain divided their beds from the rest of the room and a window behind Miroku's bed provided Kagome with the information that it was nighttime. There was a sound of a chair being pushed on the other side of the screen.

"Where are we?" Kagome asked.

"Health ward of our HQ," Miroku said with a shrug. "When Inuyasha dragged me here you were already asleep. How do you feel?"

"Healing... Are you okay, Mr. Kaze?" Kagome worried, feeling relieved that she was in a safe - albeit strange - place, but also worried for him. He'd risked a lot for her. The man grinned.

"We fought together. I think we can call each other by our first names,," he said with a small chuckle. "And I am quite alright, except some bruises. I tangled up with some of the Hojo Five. I am sorry I couldn't prevent the doppelgangers from running after you. They are humans, so my barriers can't affect them."

"Oh, please, don't apologize. It should be me apologizing for all the trouble I caused," Kagome shook her head and smiled at the monk, who lifted a hand with his thumb sticking up.

"Thanks to your testimony we got help from the police to storm the Spiders' hideout. And just after we had a fight with them, so they weren't very well prepared for us. "

Kagome's heart leaped in joy at the good news. "So, did you get the bad guys?"

"Yeah," Miroku rested his head back on his pillow. "We even got the other dopplegangers," he added, his voice and expression growing somber, "They will need a real deal treatment after what Naraku did to them."

Kagome shivered at the memory of the empty eyes and expressionless masks that were faces of the three women. She pulled her blanket closer to her chest at the memory of the women that had chased her down a shadowy, still alley.

But then a new memory came to her mind.

"How is Hachi?" she asked, worriedly. "And the man with golden eyes?"

"Hachi is fine, already left the ward when you were sleeping it all out," Miroku informed and turned his head to grin at her again. "Ah, our team's battle hound caught your eye?"

A hot blush rushed to cover Kagome's cheeks. "What? No! I just..."

"He's in the room next door, if you want to check up on him," Miroku pointed to the wall. Then, still smirking, he turned to his manga, obviously pretending he wasn't waiting to see if she was going to go or to stay.

Kagome fought herself for a minute or two. She was embarrassed by what Miroku suggested, that she might be into the handsome, golden-eyed man... And going to a (handsome) stranger to talk to him wasn't something she was used to. But at the same time she really wanted to see that man again and thank him for getting her away from the dangers of pursuing bandits and flying bullets.

Yes. She was going to go and say her gratitude; it was the least she could do after all he'd done. And wasn't he the one who had pushed for the agency to keep an eye on the Spiders? She had a lot to thank him for—thanks to his stubborn refusal to drop the investigation, Miroku and Hachi could help her.

She owed him her freedom, her life.

It would be rude not to say thank you.

Her mind made up, Kagome rose from the bed, put her shoes on, and carefully walked around the screen to the other side of the room, where one more empty bed separated her from the door. In a few steps she was out of the room.

Only then Miroku smirked and pulled out from under his pillow a phone. Quickly, he typed a short message to his darling wife.

'Miss Kagome is on her way to see Inuyasha.'

Her reply was quick to come back. 'Good. Maybe she'll be able to cheer up the grumpy pup.'

Miroku snickered and returned to his manga.

Meanwhile, Kagome walked the short distance that separated two doors in the healing ward corridor. She had fallen asleep on the couch in a meeting room somewhere else in the HQ of SHUSH, but she guessed she'd been carried here so she could rest peacefully. She'd given her testimony to a pair of police officers; she'd called Yuka to make sure her friend was safe, and to tell her she was fine too. She had talked to Shippou a little before her exhaustion had made her fall asleep.

Now she felt much better, except the ache in her calves and the scrapes on her hands and knees. She was about to push the half-opened door, when a voice from inside stopped her.

"Little brother," said a cold voice that made Kagome want to hide somewhere far away. "What happened to your hands?"

"Fuck off," grumbled the familiar voice of the golden-eyed man. Kagome's heart immediately went from frozen to beating faster. "Oi, be careful, Jinenji!"

"I'm sorry," said a soothing, shy male voice. "The bullet's stuck in your shoulder blade and unless I remove it, the wound won't heal."

Kagome swallowed. A bullet in his back? Could it be... her fault? He'd covered her with his own body when he'd come to pick her up. She remembered how frightened she'd been, how she'd fought him at first... Was it because of her that someone had shot him? She bit her bottom lip.

"Jinenji," the cold voice spoke again. "What is the cause of the burns on his hands? There is no mention of a reiki user among the Spiders."

"Oh, sir Dai Tachi, um..." the soft voice stuttered, obviously intimidated, even if the owner of the cold voice didn't seem to try and scare him.

"The miko burnt me when I picked her up, okay? Let it rest, Sesshomaru, or I'll think you care about me or some shit."

"Insolent brat," the cool voice growled.

"Wolf fart." For some reason the insults didn't sound as hostile as they should. Kagome almost smiled, remembering how she used to argue with Souta. Then her smile faltered. A miko harmed the man Kagome owed her freedom to. Which meant he was of youkai descent—that actually made sense; with his exotic eyes and hair, he had to be at least a part youkai.

Then she gasped. She was that miko. She'd been picked up by him when he'd tried to take her to safety. She'd hurt him by accident, but he'd still helped her, he'd still looked at her with these blazing eyes and he'd told her to trust him...

Suddenly, the door opened fully, showing a huge, hunched figure in a white coat. He looked quite scary, with long arms and inhuman head, but his blue eyes were so gentle that Kagome couldn't bring herself to be scared of him. A long-fingered hand waved at her.

"Please, miss miko, don't be disturbed," he said in that gentle voice. "Come in. I'm quite finished with Inuyasha, if you wish to speak with him."

"What? She's here?" there was an exclamation from the inside of the room. Kagome stepped in when the medic moved to the side, and saw the silver-haired man sitting on a stool in front of a table. He was shirtless and his hair was pulled over one shoulder, exposing a nicely sculpted torso Kagome made a point not to focus on, unless she started drooling on the floor. There were two wounds on his back, already closing and healing up. He hastily hid his hands from view, but she already knew what she'd see—burn marks that would take a long time to heal.

On the table, beside a tray with some pincers and scalpels, beside a cup with what looked like two bloodied pebbles, rested a laptop. The whole screen was arrested by the image of a man with long white hair and cold, calculating golden eyes sitting in a luxurious office chair. He had what looked like a white fur pelt thrown over his right shoulder and the back of his chair.

Buit what caught Kagome's attention was nothing on the table, nor was it the man on the screen. It was a pair of most adorable, downy-white, soft looking...

"Hey, my eyes are down here!" Kagome blushed when she realized she'd been staring at the two pointed dog ears, that now were laid back and hidden in the mess of his hair. She dropped her gaze to his scowling face.

"Um, sorry," she uttered, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "They're just so... So adorable." Kagome confessed awkwardly, but honestly. Her gaze dropped to the floor.

"Keh!" the man—a hanyou, judging by the aura she now could examine—scoffed. The man on the screen smirked and covered his mouth with a hand to hide it, while the medic chuckled when he walked around them to get the tray with his tools and the extracted bullets. "What do you want?"

"Um, I just... I wanted to say thank you... For saving me... And sorry... I guess... For hurting you?" she dared to lift her eyes to him He still had this annoyed scowl on his face, a light flush covering his cheeks. She glanced to the man on the screen, remembering that the medic had referred to him as Dai Tachi. Kagome bowed properly to the man on the other side of the communicator. "And I thank you as well for helping me. I don't know what would've happened to me, if it wasn't for your agency, Mr. Big Fluffy."

The cold golden eyes widened.

A loud clang of the metal tray full of tools hitting the floor was shortly followed by a guffaw of laughter from Inuyasha, who almost fell from his stool in his mirth.

Startled, Kagome straightened her back and took a step back, looking at the staring medic, laughing hanyou and stone still Dai Tachi.

"Oh, gods, that's rich!" the SHUSH agent outstretched his hand towards Kagome, not hiding his burnt skin anymore. His other hand wiped tears of joy from his eyes. "I like you, miko. I'm Akita Inuyasha and I want to get to know you, miss."

"What... What did I do?" Kagome asked, uncertainly accepting the clawed hand of the still grinning hanyou. He looked really handsome when he smiled.

"I believe," said the man on the screen, "that this Sesshomaru will have to flail the fox in the near future. Miss Higurashi, this one's name is Akita Sesshomaru. Please, refrain from calling this one... that name ever again."

"Totally do call him that again," Inuyasha smirked. "I dunno what Naraku was thinking. You're nothing like Kikyou."

"Um... Thank you?" Kagome gulped. Here she was, trying to say her gratitude, and she'd just offended the head of the agency... How could've she thought his nickname would be 'Big Fluffy'?

When she was staring, unable to come up with a proper apology for her terrible mistake, Inuyasha turned his head towards the glaring Dai Tachi.

"So, she's the miko. She's hella strong, but lacks focus."

"That description reminds this one of his little brother," the Dai Tachi remarked.

"Fuck off," Inuyasha growled. "Anyway, she's strong and fun. I want you to make her a part of SHUSH."

"You realize that this one cannot just force a person to start working for him?" Sesshomaru pointed out.

"You did that to me, bastard," Inuyasha shrugged. "But whatever, I will do the work, as always. You stay back and brush your fluff."

Before his boss could say anything, Inuyasha simply closed the laptop and turned to look at Kagome.

"What do you say, miss miko?" he asked, his ears cocking to the side. "Give me a month to make you realize your old job was a pain in the ass and that you will have much more fun working with us?"

Kagome blinked at him, her jaw hanging open.

It didn't take a whole month. It took a week of daily meetings with Inuyasha and his team in a ramen shop near Kagome's shrine.

And when some days later Kagome left the Dai Tachi's office with her new badge in hand to start her training in SHUSH, she couldn't help but think that maybe that fateful day she hadn't been paying attention to the signs of ill fortune because they hadn't been signs of ill fortune, but a shift in her life.

A shift for the better, she thought when she walked towards Miroku, Inuyasha, Sango and Shippou waiting for her near the waiting room table.

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer - I don't own Inuyasha, duh.  
> English isn't my first language. I'm doing my best to keep my fics mistake-free, but if you find any - please - let me know.


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